Former Springbok captain Corne Krige believes the Stormers lack experience in key positions. He also blames SA’s coaches for the poor results in the Vodacom Super 14.

Krige, who will captain a Western Province XV against the World XV in June, pulled no punches in his assessment of his old side who have lost seven out of nine matches this year.

“The Stormers need a quality tighthead prop,” he said on Boots & All. “In the second row, Ross Skeate and Andries Bekker are fantastic talents for the future, but they are still young. Naas Olivier is going to be a legend, but he is still learning and making mistakes. The Stormers also need an experienced fullback.

“Look at the Sharks, they are doing well because they have experience in key positions – BJ Botha at tighthead, three good locks [Johann Muller, Johan Ackermann and Albert van den Berg], Tony Brown at 10 and Percy Montgomery at 15.

“The Stormers say they are building for the future, and they will have a great side in two years time, but people want results now.”

Krige believes the Cape franchise could have had a successful 2006 season if they’d had real leaders in the squad.

“They have lost a number of matches in the final few minutes,” he said. “They’ve needed a calm head to take control of the situation. That’s not there at the moment.”

All five South African fanchises seem to have gotten worse as the tournament’s progressed, lamented Krige.

“This happens because the players lose confidence and are not willing to try things, like a back flip pass. You have to ask: are the coaches giving their players confidence, are they keeping the team together? You can lose your first three games and still come back, if the coach keeps the team positive.”

Krige also said it was time for South African teams to stop complaining about the overseas leg of the Super 14.

“The travel is bad, but we’ve been playing Super Rugby for 11 years now and should be used to it,” he said. “The key is to have characters who can keep the team positive. The Sharks have several players like that, which is probably why they did so well this year.”